The Faith of the Seven is the principal religion of the Seven Kingdoms. It is little-practiced beyond its borders. The Faith of the Seven is dominant in the south of Westeros. The only regions where it is not the majority religion are the North, where worship of the Old Gods of the Forest remains strong, and on the Iron Islands, where the local religion of the Drowned God is most widespread. There are many exceptions in all three areas, however.[1]

Contents

History

The Faith originated six thousand years before the War of the Five Kings in the continent of Essos, specifically in Andalos where, according to legend, the "God of Seven" manifested before the Andal people. Afterward the Andals sailed west and their invasion of Westeros began. Some of the Andal warriors carved the seven-pointed star, the symbol of their religion, into their flesh to demonstrate their devotion. Bearing weapons made of steel, the Andals conquered the First Men and slaughtered the Children of the Forest, viewing their magic as an abomination before the Seven. The Andals burned down most of the weirwood trees in the south, which are considered sacred in the worship of the Old Gods of the Forest.[2] Soon all the kingdoms of the First Men, except the Kingdom of the North, fell to the invaders, who intermingled with some of the local dynasties, such as House Gardener, or replaced them altogether, as was the case of Mountain Kings of the Vale.[3][4] As the Andals asserted their dominance over all regions south of the Neck, they asserted their religion over the First Men they conquered, replacing the worship of the Old Gods almost entirely throughout the southern kingdoms of Westeros. Thus the Andals' Faith of the Seven became the dominant religion on the entire continent, except for in the North and the Iron Islands.[5][1]

Beliefs

The Faith holds that there is one god who has seven faces or aspects: the Father, the Mother, the Maiden, the Crone, the Warrior, the Smith, and the Stranger. Each aspect represents one part of life or existence.[1]

The Father: represents divine justice, and judges the souls of the dead.

The Mother: represents mercy, peace, fertility, and childbirth. She is sometimes referred to as "the strength of women".

The Maiden: represents purity, love, and beauty.

The Crone: represents wisdom and foresight. She is represented carrying a lantern.

The Warrior: represents strength and courage in battle.

The Smith: represents creation and craftsmanship.

The Stranger: The Stranger represents death and the unknown. It is rarely prayed to.

The Stranger is depicted as neither male nor female, thus the number of male and female aspects within the godhead is equal: three males (Father, Warrior, Smith), three females (Maiden, Mother, Crone), and one who is neither. Unlike the other aspects which are represented as human figures in artwork, because the Stranger represents the unknown it is often portrayed in a wide variety of forms, often frightening. Sometimes it is represented as a skeletal figure, or a non-human creature possessing various animalistic features.

Due to its seven "aspects", the deity is often referred to as the "Seven-faced God" or the "God of Seven", but most frequently as simply "the Seven". The Seven are also referred to as "the New Gods" or "New God", in contrast with the "Old Gods" of the Forest worshiped by the First Men before the invasion of the Andals.[6]

In practice, many devotees will refer to the aspects as "Gods" plural, though priests of the Faith will attempt to stress the theological nuance to their followers that there is indeed only one God, the "Seven-in-One" deity. This has not stopped the commonly heard exclamation "Gods be good!" from being used pervasively throughout the Seven Kingdoms.

The Seven Pointed Star is a symbol of the unity of the Seven-in-One God.

Due to the "Seven-in-One" nature of the deity, the number seven is sacred in the religion, with symbolism involving the number seven featuring heavily in its belief system. Newborn babies are anointed with seven oils and named in the light of the Seven hours after they are born. In death, there are said to be Seven Hells.

The Seven Pointed Star is the most prominent symbol of the Faith, representing how each of the seven aspects is one facet of a unified whole. Other common symbols include rainbows, which are often generated by crystal prisms. This is used as an allegory to explain the complex theological concept of a single God composed of Seven persons: just as pure light separates into the constituent seven colors of the rainbow as it passes through a crystal, so too is there only one deity, which appears to men in seven different ways.

Practices

Patterns of worship

Unlike the Old Gods of the Forest, whose worshipers in The North are looked down upon by members of the Faith of the Seven as savages who worship multiple gods, the Faith is based on a number of holy texts and complex social rules. The most prominent of these books is titled The Seven Pointed Star.

Temples of the Faith are seven-sided buildings known as "Septs", with each wall dedicated to one of the seven aspects. Followers of the Faith gather in septs for group prayer, which frequently involves singing hymns of praise to the Seven. One such hymn dedicated to the Mother is "Gentle Mother, Font of Mercy". There are also monasteries, known as "septries", where smaller numbers of worshipers gather who have taken a monastic oath. Septries often have vows of silence or other requirements, and are places of quiet contemplation.

Knighthood

Mounted warriors known as knights dedicate themselves to a code of behavior known as chivalry, heavily influenced by the Faith of the Seven and its principles. The will of the Seven is said to favor the victor in a trial by combat.

Social rules

The Faith condemns homosexuality as a sin

Along with the Old Gods, the Faith shares several basic social rules against incest, kinslaying, and bastardy. The Faith of the Seven, along with all major religions, also upholds the laws of hospitality, which hold sacred the good behavior of a guest and host towards each other.

The Faith of the Seven considers homosexuality to be a sin. Therefore, homosexuals in the Seven Kingdoms such as Ser Loras Tyrell and Renly Baratheon must keep their true sexual and romantic behavior secret, or else face significant social consequences.

Incest is considered an abomination by the Faith

There are no different denominations within the Faith of the Seven, as all adherents are part of one universal organization. However, different regions of the Seven Kingdoms may interpret and apply its rules more or less strictly than others, particularly Dorne. When the Rhoynar migrated to Dorne a thousand years ago, they brought with them their own social customs from their river-based city-states on the continent of Essos. The Rhoynar converted to the Faith of the Seven, but in many ways they picked and chose which parts of the religion they liked and simply ignored the parts they didn't want to follow. Thus the present-day Dornishmen which descend from them follow the rules of the Faith somewhat loosely. In particular, the Rhoynar were quite tolerant of sexual behavior including homosexuality, and thus homosexuality or bisexuality carries little if any social taint in present-day Dorne, even though they are still nominally followers of the Faith of the Seven. Thus while a knight from the Reach such as Ser Loras Tyrell must hide his homosexuality, several major lords and ladies in Dorne are openly bisexual or homosexual. The Rhoynar also had much less disdain for bastards than the peoples already established in Westeros when they arrived. While bastards in present-day Dorne do have to use the bastard surname "Sand" and are less likely to inherit, it is actually not unusual to see bastards living at the court of their noble parents there.

Organization

The High Septon

Unlike the worship of the Old Gods, the Faith of the Seven has an organized clergy with a complex internal hierarchy. Both men and women can be priests of the Seven. Male priests are known as septons and female priests as septas.[1]

There are several monastic or devotional orders that believers in the Faith of the Seven may belong to. One of the most prominent of these is the Silent Sisters, a separate all-female monastic order devoted to the Stranger, the aspect that represents death. The Silent Sisters are responsible for dressing and preparing dead bodies for funeral rites, and have taken vows of silence and chastity. Silent Sisters are separate from the regular clergy, and are not considered to be septas.

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the Faith is altogether quite similar to how it is portrayed on-screen. Author George R.R. Martin has stated that the Faith of the Seven is loosely analogous, at least in social function, to the medieval Catholic Church. Martin himself was raised Roman Catholic but by the time of the TV series, describes himself as a "lapsed Catholic". He borrowed the idea of the three-in-one Holy Trinity (Father-Son-Holy Ghost) and modified it into a "Holy Septinity" of sorts when he made the seven-in-one god of the Faith of the Seven.

When Aegon the Conqueror invaded and subdued Westeros three centuries ago, he gained the support of the Faith, who crowned him King and convinced the rulers of the city of Oldtown to open their gates to him. The Faith's support was critical to Aegon taking control of the continent. However, when he died and his son Aenys (born of incest, which is proscribed by the Faith) took the throne, they led a religious uprising against him. This uprising was eventually crushed by the Targaryen dynasty with great loss of life, when the weakling Aenys died and was succeeded by his ruthless brother Maegor the Cruel. Peace was reached when Maegor died and was succeeded by Aenys' son Jaehaerys, who brokered a peace agreement: the Faith didn't have to actively support the incestuous marriage practices of the Targaryens, but it did have to at least acknowledge the marriages as valid, and the Faith's leadership accepted the offer. The Faith's military forces, the Faith Militant, disbanded and the Faith have remained loyal supporters of the crown ever since.

Many septons and septas are based at a sept or septry, but "begging brothers", septons without a sept, wander the Seven Kingdoms and minister to smaller towns and villages which lack septs of their own.

Similar to the real-life College of Cardinals in Catholicism, the Faith is ruled over by a council known as the Most Devout, which elects the High Septon. New High Septons are usually selected from among the members of the Most Devout, but this is not a requirement. While septons and septas serve on the council of the Most Devout, the High Septon is usually male. It hasn't been mentioned if there is an actual rule against electing a "High Septa" and there has never been one, or if there were High Septas in the past, and one simply hasn't been elected during the timeframe of the novels.